


Future's Past

by comradedyatlovs_cig



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Severus Snape Lives, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:14:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29806872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comradedyatlovs_cig/pseuds/comradedyatlovs_cig
Summary: A search for the ghost of Albus Dumbledore transports Hermione back to the summer of 1996. Hesitant to give her life to the war a second time, Hermione makes a discovery that forces her to accept a teaching post at Hogwarts. Struggling to fit into her new role under the watchful eye of Dumbledore, Hermione agrees to help the Order, although she believes that nothing she can do will affect events already passed. After all, what happened has already happened, right?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Future's Past

**Author's Note:**

> Please be sure to read the end notes, I didn't want to torture you with my ramblings before you've even begun.

**_June, 2008_.**

The month of June drifted over Islington in a haze. The Muggle neighbors who lived next door to Number 12 Grimmauld Place had left their windows on the upper floors ajar, allowing the chattering from flat-screen televisions to waft down in warbled voices to the back garden where Hermione sat. No longer able to continue reading through the stack of Ministry papers on the patio table beside her, she leaned back precariously in a plastic folding chair, watching Crookshanks move about in the grass until the cat stretched out by the table. Shielding her face from the sun with the crook of her arm, she closed her eyes. The seashell mobile that hung on a metal rod between two tall containers of Knotgrass chimed softly, reminding her of the ocean, which gradually transformed the steady sound of traffic from the street behind her into waves crashing on the sand.

"Pleasant dreams, I hope?"

She must have fallen asleep, she thought, turning to see Harry striding into the back garden.

"Something, like that," she said. "Australia."

Keeping his hands in his trouser pockets, he dropped onto the chair across from her with a worried look. "Your parents again?" he said.

"Yes, actually." She stared passed him at the crumbling brick garden wall that begged for more attention than she'd been willing to give to it. "I didn't think you were coming 'round tonight. Robards mentioned you were off to Cardiff for another raid at the Home Affairs meeting," she said, Summoning a jug of water and two glasses from the kitchen.

Harry helped himself to a glass and shrugged. "I sent Ron, wasn't anything serious . . . Is that about the ratification?" he asked, nodding toward the stack of papers on the table.

"Only more bad news, I'm afraid. I don't have the votes," she said with a sigh. "Another reason why going on our camping trip to Scotland this weekend is so essential. But I know you're still not convinced yet, I can tell."

Harry scratched at the back of his neck with a grimace. "I don't know. . . I don't like it, that's for sure," he said. "It's certainly a lot of risk. There's a lot we don't know. It's hard to say for sure if it would even work, using the Resurrection Stone." He pulled at his necktie, which was a horrible shade of burnt orange, a Christmas present from Luna the previous year. "And that's assuming it's even still in the Forbidden Forest. I can't remember where I dropped it, it could be anywhere by now."

"It's the only way to find out where Dumbledore hid his memories," she said. "It's the best lead we've got now that the portrait won't give their location up to McGonagall."

Harry gave her a look of guilt. "What if I don't want to find it?" he asked. "Isn't there something else we can do?"

"We've exhausted all our other options. We don't have the support of the Minister. Professor Snape **came out of hiding, I assume not without cause," Hermione said as Crookshanks jumped into her lap. "He _allowed_ himself to be discovered even though it meant that he would be arrested. Now he's asking for our help, so what else can we do but give it to him?"

Harry reached over to scratch Crookshanks behind the ear. "I know, I know," he said. "I had to ask. If legislation won't pass, and if Kingsley will not issue a pardon, then there is no other way to prove Snape's innocence without Dumbledore's memories for the trial. If you thought there was another possibility, you wouldn't be so keen on something this mad."

She gave him a pitying smile, Vanishing away his now empty water glass. "It was never going to," she admitted. "There wasn't a chance that we'd get two-thirds of the Wizengamot to vote to ratify the Constitution, much less a majority."

"You're sure about Kingsley?" Harry asked. He shifted into a slouch, resting his elbows on his knees.

"He reiterated once more that he isn't eager to involve himself in anything controversial during an election year," she said. "He wants to wait to measure public reaction. No offers of anything tangible."

"That's it then, I suppose," Harry said.

"I guess it is," she said.

A silence settled between them, heavy and suggestive of an uncanny sense of dread.

The sun was setting in the west, casting pink and amber shadows across the grass in the back garden of Grimmauld Place. The evening light grew dimmer until the sun at last disappeared completely behind the terraced houses, the patio where they sat now illuminated solely by a pale yellow lamplight emanating from inside the house. Seeing the time, Harry finally bid her goodbye and left for Devon, where Ginny and the children waited, leaving Hermione once again alone.

**Author's Note:**

> A few important notes going forward: this story largely deals with the philosophical arguments for the possibility of time travel rather than the STEM side of things. In other words, there won't be multiple universes in the traditional sense. A great resource is https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-travel/#CauLoo which lays out a lot of the theory/laws that I will be using in this work.  
> Alright, last thing. Earlier this week, I saw someone else post a link to a story playlist on Spotify at the end of their fic -- is that something anyone would be interested in? Please let me know about that and if you enjoyed this chapter! This is my first long fic and I hope to update weekly. I would love any feedback you have and/or thoughts on anything else :)


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